When Lawrie McMenemy ended his first season at the Dell with relegation, the board kept faith with him and although it was not immediate, stability soon saw it's rewards, so the es Saints manager see's that in the current situation.

When McMenemy left the Dell in the summer of 1985 he had been only the second manager in 30 years, his successor Chris Nicholl was in place for 6 years, but then things went a little mad and in the following 29 years we have seen permanent 23 managers at the club.

Am amazing situation especially when you see that only 4 have managed over 2 years in the hot seat with none doing more than a few months over that.

There have been many reasons why the managers have departed so early, some have done OK but been criticised by the fans for the style of play like Branfoot and Puel, some have been poached like Ball, Hoddle, Pochettino and Koeman, whilst the likes of Alan Pardew and Nigel Adkins were unfairly sacked after a good job.

But many were not given the time and history shows them as poor appointments, the fact that two out of the last three have been in that category perhaps tells us where we took our finger off the pulse.

But there has been a big change behind the scenes in the boardroom at St Mary's and we now have to stop looking back to the past and have a little faith in the future, the likes of Martin Semmens and Matt Crocker are now running things and have to be given their chance to show they can take the club forward.

In Ralph Hasenhuttl we have a manager who looks at the bigger picture, he is trying to build foundations that will be in place long after he left, in fairness he is not building from scratch, Les Reed is given a lot of stick from the fans, but not everything he did was wrong and he oversaw the training ground and sports science improvements as well as the famous Black Box.

But he took his finger off the pulse and forgot what had got us success and in doing so it meant changes had to be made.

Lawrie McMenemy has spoken in the Daily Echo of how the new board deserve credit for keeping faith with Ralph Hasenhuttl when perhaps it would have been easir to sack him.

"I couldn’t believe that a club who had one managerial change in 30 years could have so many changes in the following period.

"But full marks to the board because Ralph has proved how good a manager he is.

"An example of this is him telling Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg that he won’t be his captain next season if he doesn’t sign a new contract, as the midfielder is about to enter the 12 months of his contract.

"This is a good sign of strong management and full marks to Ralph for that.

"I’ve said in the past that a lot of managers coming from abroad only want to coach but Ralph is proving he wants to take on the management side which is so vital.

"Players are persuaded by agents these days, but it looks as though players like Hojbjerg, who are entering the final 12 months of a deal, won’t sign a new contract because it means they can walk out the door in 12 months’ time and pick up a huge amount of money as there won’t be a transfer fee.

"I will keep an eye on this because Pierre should think twice — especially when he is being supported so well by not only the supporters but also Ralph, who made him his captain when he arrived in December 2018 and has improved him as a player.

"Well done to Saints for extending Ralph’s contract.

Wise words from Lawrie, who along with Ted Bates can be credited with turning Saints from a club who had never played in the Top Flight to one that could compete at the highest levels.

Indeed some parallels can be drawn from them, Ted Bates put in place the foundations and Lawrie built on those and that is the same for not just Martin Semmens and his board but Ralph Hasenhuttl as well, the spring clean at the club is over and we can now move forward.

Whether the future will now get better we will find out, but what I do know is that unless we stop dragging up the past and start looking to the future we are not going to succeed, we need a catalyst that unites the fan base and hopefully Ralph Hasenhuttl can be that.

Ronald Koeman looked a good fit for Saints, but in truth it was only on the surface, he was only concerned with the first team and results, Ralph Hasenhuttl is different, he is not known as Klopp Of The Alps lightly, he has the same passion and desire as the Liverpool manager, he sees the club not just the first team.

Saints fans due to recent history in the main do not like Klopp, but truthfully all clubs would love a manager like him, one that get involved with every aspect of not only the club, but the supporters and the community, Ralph Hasenhuttl is hewn from the same block.

If an elder statesman like Lawrie McMenemy can see that things have changed and that they are moving forward then that can only be a good sign.

Photo: Action Images

Chesham_Saint added 13:27 - Jun 7 Branfoot did an ok job? You must be bloody joking. He was one of our worst managers ever.
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Crispinmumbles added 13:42 - Jun 7 He played Paul Moody instead of Matty - case closed!
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beatlesaint added 13:47 - Jun 7 Branfoot did ok? Crap, please don’t re-write history.
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underweststand added 16:42 - Jun 7 Always like to read a " Lawrie Mac " rticle. Although he maybe just an historical name for younger fans, he hasn't lost the ability to hit the nail on the head with his comments. In particular, Lawrie made mention of Pochettino's much-quoted claim about how he brought in young talent to the Saints side, and frequently takes credit for bringing Luke Shaw into the side when in fact a quick look at stats. shows that Luke had already played a dozen games under Nigel Adkins before Saints fans even learned to hear and mispronounce his name. I think MP has some fine qualities as a coach, but taking credit for other people's success should not be one of them. Indeed Sam Gallagher got some game time during Poch's reign, but this was in part due to a big injury list at that time. Can't wait to read Poch's memoirs and the mention of his super signing Dany Osvaldo.(!)

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saintmark1976 added 18:19 - Jun 7 Ronald Koeman " was only concerned with the first team and results ". So in your eyes Nick he wasn't a " good fit for Saints " even though he and his brother fashioned and managed a team which played attractive football and ultimately finished sixth in the Premiership. Alternatively you suggest Mr Branfoot was "OK" even though on many occasions he chose not to play the most prestigious talent the club has ever had ? Said purely in jest with no malice intended, but I can't help but wonder if this wretched lockdown needs to end very soon, in order that you can comment on the Saints going forward rather than attempting to rewrite history.

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cocklebreath added 19:07 - Jun 7 Does Nick really believe Branfoot did an okay job?
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A1079 added 19:20 - Jun 7 I have always had alot of time and respect for Lawrie and I completely agree, it is good that Ralph's tenure has been extended and hopefully, he and others are looking to build some foundation and stability after what has seemed like endless seasons of turmoil in one form or another. Though, unless we can build our team and finally off load some of those costly and ineffective acquisitions we will be looking over our shoulders. But, I recall Branfoot very well and for the life of me, I cannot see how in any form, even if you were trying to be kind was Branfoot good for the club. He was a unmitigated disaster. The brand and style of football was completely alien to us, the club and many of the players. It was a wonder he lasted as long as he did and he was a low point in managerial appointments and we have had a few. You go on about Puel because we finished 8th. He was not a disaster but for a few exceptions the football was dull. We finished 8th but point wise we were closer to the bottom 3 than we were to the top 6. Pellegrino was nearly as bad as Branfoot. Not for his style of football, but his blind incompetence at the job and the annoying thing was, everyone saw that before he even started. Koeman gave us hope and belief that we could challenge anyone. Yes, he did have a blind spot on the youth.

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Shakin_Stevens added 00:58 - Jun 8 Once you read 'Branfoot did okay' it's hard to continue reading. I'm sure the rest of the article was fine but I just couldn't get past that. When did he do okay?
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Saidou added 01:45 - Jun 8 My personal view is that we made RK look better than he actually was. Proven by his disastrous time at Everton when he had everything thing he need to his taste. RH is a top manager. I remember listening to his first interview and press conference and thinking " This man gets it😁".
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zonehead added 14:09 - Jun 9 Would be good to one of your series of looking back at Saints managers, I’ve lost count
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